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Emily & the Captain: A Winter Adventure
Artist: Mel D'SouzaPublisher: Downhomer$12.95The story continues from the bestselling Emily & the Captain: A Woody Point Story. On a winter visit to Woody Point, Newfoundland, from her home in Virginia, Emily discovers a little lost fox, Rhett. Amazingly, Rhett is also from Virginia. But why has he fled Virginia and how has he gotten all the way to Newfoundland?
Emily and her animal friends find food and shelter for Rhett and they all enjoy the fun of the deep snows of a Newfoundland winter in the Mystical Forest.
But Rhett is homesick and longs to return to Virginia. Glow-ria, the northern light, finds a way to get Rhett home, if that’s what he really wants. It seems Emily and the animals must part with their new-found friend forever.
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Emily & the Captain: A Woody Point Story
Artist: Mel D'SouzaPublisher: Downhomer$12.95Santana, an evil sea imp, has sealed Capt. Woody McKenzie in the Woody Point lighthouse (Bonne Bay, NF). But Captain Woody isn’t just in the lighthouse, he’s part of it!
Glow-ria, the northern light becomes the Captain’s guardian angel. She tells the Captain the secret to breaking the spell but he cannot reveal it to anyone. Emily must discover the secret for herself, in her own heart.
The years pass and there seems to be no way to save the Captain. Then the Wood Point lighthouse is due to be torn down. Something has to be done now!
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I’m Writing a Story
Publisher: Acorn Press$12.95Mother of three young children, Doretta Groenendyk teaches art to young people, is active in her children’s school, and participates widely in the Nova Scotia artistic community, doing workshops around the province, including Word on the Street in Halifax. Based in Canning, NS, Doretta is the illustrator of Bounce and Beans and Burn, with text by Shannon Murray, which was shortlisted for the PEI Book Award in 2008
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Sky Pony
Publisher: Acorn Press$12.95Elaine Breault Hammond, the author of the best-selling The Secret Under the Whirlpool, Under the Waterfall, and Explosion at Dawson Creek, has lived in six provinces as well as in the United States. She and her family lived on Prince Edward Island. Now she divides her time between PEI in the summertime and Kingston, Ontario, the rest of the year, where she is close to four of her seven grandchildren
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Snow for Christmas
Publisher: Acorn Press$12.95Mother of three young children, Doretta Groenendyk teaches art to young people, is active in her children’s school, and participates widely in the Nova Scotia artistic community, doing workshops around the province, including Word on the Street in Halifax. Based in Canning, NS, Doretta is the illustrator of Bounce and Beans and Burn, with text by Shannon Murray, which was shortlisted for the PEI Book Award in 2008, and I’m Writing a Story, her first book featuring her own stories and illustrations.
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Treasures to Find
Artist: Dale McNevinPublisher: Acorn Press$12.95Dale McNevin is a much beloved PEI illustrator who has illustrated numerous books including Crosby and Me, Everything That Shines, and Three Tall Trees. Her characters from The True Meaning of Crumbfest were immortalized by the City of Charlottetown in re-created large statues painted by artists around the city.
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The Year Mrs. Montague Cried
Publisher: Acorn Press$12.95Susan White was born in New Brunswick and moved from one New Brunswick city to another. As a teenager her family moved to the Kingston Peninsula and she only left long enough to earn her BA and Bed at St. Thomas University in Fredericton. Settling on the peninsula, she and her husband raised four children and ran small farm while she taught elementary school. Since retiring she is grateful to now have the time to work on her writing and the freedom to regularly visit her new granddaughter in Alberta.
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Thank You for My Bed
Publisher: Acorn Press$12.95Doretta Groenendyk’s whimsical illustrations bring this lyrical bedtime story to life. Cuddle up for a cozy adventure as we see how children from all over the world snuggle up and say ‘Thank you for my bed”. Children will realize that although cultures may differ, we are all the same in that each night, we all go to bed. It was shortlisted for the 2012 Lillian Shepherd Award for Excellence in Illustration!
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Ten Thousand Truths
Publisher: Acorn Press$12.95A moving story of losing family but finding a new one. Thirteen-year-old Rachel is bad news, or so her foster care worker tells her. She’s been shuttled from one rotten foster family to another ever since her mother and brother died in a car accident five years ago, and she’s running out of options. So when she gets caught shoplifting and is kicked out of her latest home, the only place left to send her is the last resort for kids like her: a farm in the middle of nowhere run by a disfigured recluse named Amelia Walton, whom Rachel nicknames “Warty” because of the strange lumps covering her face and neck. Rachel settles into life at the farm, losing herself in her daily chores and Amelia’s endless trivia, and trying to forget her past and the secret she’s holding inside. But when a letter arrives for her out of the blue, Rachel soon realizes that you can’t hide from your past-or your future.
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Spin to Sea
Publisher: Acorn Press$12.95Every year at harvest, in a cosy cove on the south shore of Nova Scotia, families and neighbors gather by the water and send their carved pumpkins out into the bay. Spin to the Sea celebrates this enchanted, annual event through magical illustrations and lyrical text. Izra Fitch is 15 years old and lives in the Annapolis Valley with her parents, two brothers and their cats.Her first book, Spin to the Sea was created outside, in cafes and at the kitchen table. Izra loves to make art, stories and music. She also likes rainy weather, graphic novels, travelling, gorillas and chocolate. No pumpkins were harmed in the making of this book.
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Morgan’s Boat Ride
Artist: Anna BaldPublisher: Acorn Press$12.95Morgan and her dog head out on an accidental journey down the river that flows past the summer cottage where they holiday with Morgan’s mother. As they float along the river they observe landscape and life on the water, various birds and people enjoying the activities the river has to offer. But the story is not only about their adventure, it is also about community, about how all the people who see them drifting past hurry off to make sure that they come to no danger. The story ends at the local wharf where the entire community comes together to celebrate their adventure and their safe return.
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Sewing Basket
Publisher: Acorn Press$12.95Dealing with a parent’s illness can be difficult at any age It is 1967 and twelve year old Ruth Iverson’s world pretty much revolves around her friends, a boy she likes, the Monkees and spending time with her Dad doing special stuff like watching the Toronto Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup. But she is soon to realize that her mom’s strange behaviour which has become an embarrassment, are symptoms of a disease that will affect the family’s life and possibly Ruth’s future. While she watches major events like the marriage of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, the birth of Priscilla Presley, the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy and Neil Armstrong walking on the moon, Ruth faces some major life events of her own and struggles to come to terms with the changes they bring.
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Kira’s Secret
Publisher: Acorn Press$12.95Twelve-year-old Kira loves to swim. But her parents, who adopted her as a baby, have forbidden her to go near the sea where they live on the north Atlantic coast. Frustrated by their rules, Kira decides to rebel and jumps into the icy waters. She is shocked by what she learns about herself. With the help of her friend Cody, Kira begins the search for her original family. She soon discovers why her adoptive parents were afraid to let her go into the sea.
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Prince Edward Island ABC
Artist: Dale McNevinPublisher: Acorn Press$12.95Prolific P.E.I. illustrator has a new take on the P.E.I. alphabet. Avoiding the predictable icons such as “A is for Anne of Green Gables” this book is meant to appeal to PE Islanders both at home and away. With images that include A is for Acadian; B is for Blue Jay; C is for Confederation; D is for Old Donald, E is for Exploring a Tidal Pool, F is for Farmers and Fishers; H is Harness Racing; J is Jams and Jellies; K is for Kindred Spirits.; and L is Lighthouse, this Prince Edward Island ABC will to appeal to both children and adults. Â
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Somewhere I Belong
Publisher: Acorn Press$12.95In Somewhere I Belong, we meet young P.J. Kavanaugh at North Boston Station. His father has died, the Depression is on, and his mother is moving them back home. They settle in, and P.J. makes new friends. But the P.E.I. winter is harsh, the farm chores endless, and his teacher a drunken bully. He soon wants to go home; the problem is how.
A letter arrives from Aunt Mayme announcing a Babe Ruth charity baseball game in the old neighbourhood. But Ma won’t let him go. P.J is devastated. The weeks pass, then there is an accident on the farm. P.J. becomes a hero and Ma changes her mind. He travels to Boston, sees his friends, watches Babe Ruth hit a home run, and renews his attachment to the place. But his eagerness to return to the Island makes him wonder where he really belongs.
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Hockey Morning Noon and Night
Publisher: Acorn Press$12.95Hockey Morning, Noon and Night is a warm, light-hearted story about one little boy’s love of the game. Based on her seven-year-old son’s real-life obsession with hockey, author Doretta Groenendyk has created a delightful book for young budding stars, with bright, colourful ink and acrylic illustrations..
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Born ! A Foal, Five Kittens and Confederation
Artist: Brenda JonesPublisher: Acorn Press$12.95Award-winning children’s author Deirdre Kessler has set her latest story in the late summer of 1864. Nine-year-old twins Gabriel and Grace help their parents run the Great George Street Livery Stables in Charlottetown. They are part of all the excitement as a circus comes to town and as politicians arrive by steamship from the Maritimes and the Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada. The twins have drawing lessons with their friend, fourteen-year-old artist Robert Harris, who plays in the band that entertains the delegates at a grand banquet and ball at Province House. But the twins are most excited about their favourite horse, who is about to give birth to her first foal. Travel back in time to the streets of Charlottetown for an insider’s peek at the meetings that led to Confederation, beautifully illustrated by award-winning illustrator, Brenda Jones.
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The Memory Chair
Publisher: Acorn Press$12.95Thirteen-year-old Betony has always hated going to her cranky great-grandmother’s house. It’s old and stuffy and boring and the woodstove in the kitchen is always burning too hot. But her Gram doesn’t have any other family living close by on the Kingston Peninsula, so Betony ends up being dragged along all the time.
She’d rather be pretty much anywhere…until one day Betony sits on her Gram’s favourite chair. She is suddenly transported into the past, and is experiencing her Gram’s life as if it were in her own memory. At first Betony is excited and curious, and begins to develop a close relationship with Gram, even learning to cook and quilt. But after she has experienced a few more of her great-grandmother’s memories, she realizes she is slowly uncovering a terrible, shameful family secret.
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I’m Drawing a Picture
Publisher: Acorn Press$12.95I’m Drawing a Picture combines story and images to captivate and inspire young readers to harness their creative spirit. A collaboration between artwork and text, this whimsical book has a different inspirational idea on each page, with a scene that each “artist” imagines. The concept is based on Doretta Groenendyk’s experience working with children in schools and trying to inspire them to be creative in all forms of mediums of art. The text is geared to four- to ten-year-olds, and is an excellent teaching tool for aspiring writers. An ideal elementary teacher’s resource, the book’s characters span cultures, genders, and ages.
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Sky Pony in Iceland
Publisher: Acorn Press$12.95Siggi, Katie and their family are starting a new adventure! They are moving from Yukon Territory to Prince Edward Island to help their grandparents run their trail ride business.
Siggi is nervous about the move, but he has bigger things to worry about. Some of the older boys at school are picking on him, and he’s not sure how to get them to stop. He wishes he could just be like everyone else; instead, his Icelandic name makes him stand out.
Things get better for Siggi on the move to PEI, when he begins to learn some pretty cool things about his heritage. However, an unexpected magical trip to Iceland makes Siggi realize just how lucky he really is.
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Kira’s Quest
Publisher: Acorn Press$12.95Now that Kira knows the secret of her past, she can’t help but want to know more about her underwater world.Â
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Queen of the Crows
Publisher: Acorn Press$12.95Elsa’s mom has disappeared again, but eleven-year-old Elsa is doing her best to fool the world into thinking her life is normal. As food, money and luck begin to run out, Elsa fears she won’t be able to keep her desperate, lonely secret any longer.
Then one day a crow talks to Elsa and a world of wonder opens up to her. The queen of the crows has also gone missing and the rest of the crows struggle to know what to do next.
Could the secret, magical world of the crows be the key to Elsa’s mental health?
Based on the award-winning short film screened by Telefilm Canada at the Cannes Film Festival, Queen of the Crows explores a family story of mental illness, love and imagination and triumph.
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And All the Stars Shall Fall
Publisher: Acorn Press$12.95After years of struggle by Blanchfleur to maintain its independence, the idyllic walled city of Aahimsa, a community of girls and women dedicated to making a life of peace free of the brutality and aggression of outsiders, and its prospering Manuhome, are suddenly victims of a brutal surprise attack by the forces of The World Federation of City States. Mabon and Nora are in hiding outside the city where they witness all the horrors of the assault. Adam, their adoptive son, is no longer with them, having been placed under the protection of Doctor Ueland at the Manuhome. Adam, known to the federation as The Last Wild Boy has been hunted down since his unauthorized birth in Aahimsa. Blanchfleur the mayor of Aahimsa along with her daughter and granddaughter Tish, flee for their lives along with hundreds of the Manuhome workers. A few of them are thrown together and, although some are strangers and long-time enemies, they are forced by circumstance to attempt to find a way to escape extinction in the outside world against powerful and relentless common enemies, traitors and especially the federation’s murderous and heartless robotic army. They must deal with great dangers and unexpected revelations. Can they manage to work together and adjust their thinking enough to survive and find happiness against such seemingly insurmountable odds?
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The Last Wild Boy
Publisher: Acorn Press$12.95This is a new young adult novel by P.E.I.’s Poet Laureate. It is a dystopic story about Nora who lives in the walled city of Aahimsa, anidyllic community of girls and women working together to make a peaceful life free of the brutality of the outsiders. As the companionof the mayor of Aahimsa’s daughter, Alice, she enjoys privileges that other women from the working class can only dream of.But when she and Alice find an outsider baby abandoned within the city walls, Nora starts to question whether the outsiders poseas much of a threat to her civilization as she’s been taught. With the baby’s life in danger, Nora must decide whether she’s willingto give up everything she has to save him, and who she can trust to help her.
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Piau’s Potato Present The “True” Story of the Poutine Rapee
Artist: Tamara Thiébaux-HeikaloPublisher: Bouton d'or Acadie$12.95Christian Treitz, the youngest son in a German family immigrated to the Monckton Township, learns that the trauma of the Acadian Deportation is still alive. The Treitz family is hungry and cold. Luckily, Christian meets Pierre Belliveau, who could have left Moncton’s newcomers to their unhappy fate. Instead, the Acadian has brought with him the seed of a new beginning. Despite the obstacles between them, their unexpected friendship blossoms on the banks of the Petitcodiac River.
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Pamela Pollock’s Perilous Adventure
$12.95Pamela Pollock is a small fish that lives in Nova Scotia. She gets caught in a current and swept away to a place she has never been, where the water is warm, and the fish don’t look familiar, and aren’t friendly.
She wants desperately to go home but doesn’t know how until she sees a boat that looks familiar. The Bluenose. Pamela is certain if she stays close to the Bluenose she will find her way home.
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Henrietta’s Nightlight
Publisher: Chocolate River Publishing$12.95Henrietta is staying overnight at her grandparents? cottage for the first time. She would love to see the great blue heron that visits in the morning, but there?s no electricity or running water at the cottage, and the night noises are scary. After a grownup day exploring nature with her grandparents, will she be able to make it through the night?
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Race to Fame
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$12.95Race to Fame tells the story of the schooner Bluenose, unbeaten international champion of the North Atlantic. There have been other books written about the Bluenose but none so well researched from the laying of the keel through her lengthy service in the commercial fishery, her long and eventful racing career and her final resting place on a Caribbean reef. The author, a long0time crew member, was personally involved in most of the events in this most interesting book.
R.G. Smith
Former Director of National Sea Foods, Lunenburg -
Tommy’s New Block Skates PB
Artist: David Preston SmithPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$12.95In a small town in Nova Scotia, Tommy is dreaming about skating on Half-mile Pond. He will skate fast, make circles and fancy figures on the ice, maybe even play hockey…as soon as he has his very own skates. Join Tommy in discovering how old-fashioned block skates are made. Will Tommy’s new block skates be ready by winter?
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Crosswords from Atlantic Canada
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$12.95An exciting book of 50 all-new crossword puzzles about Atlantic Canada! Designed to amuse and stump all age groups and backgrounds. Clues challenge your knowledge of all things related to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador. Geography and history are covered as well as more contemporary, popular culture, and general knowledge clues to really test puzzle fans. Each puzzle contains at least twenty percent Atlantic Canadian content.
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Back to the Beach
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing$12.95Back to the Beach is a simple but lively story about Gus and his dog, Sam, who experience a gleeful day at the beach. Amidst their playful romping, racing, splashing, and exploring, Gus and Sam come across various beach treasures. One by one, they present each treasure to Gus’s parents, who relax “back at the blanket,” and one by one, each treasure is denied in the rhyming chorus.
This story is suitable for early/emerging readers and beachlovers alike. Written primarily in prose, there is a recurrent rhyming refrain that contributes to its appeal for “chiming in” when shared aloud. The illustrations, intended to be bright, lively, and engaging, feature mixed media, including coloured pencil, graphite, and watercolour. -
Maritime Monsters
Artist: Jeff SolwayPublisher: Nimbus Publishing$12.95This children’s picture book is a field guide to Maritime monsters, taken from local folklore and legends. The monsters described include Prince Edward Island’s Old Hook-Snout, New Brunswick’s Acadian Werewolf, Nova Scotia’s Parker Road Phantom and Newfoundland’s Not-So-Cuddly Kraken!
Each entry includes a short story featuring the monster and a field guide entry: location, diet, size, frequency, description, and special monster-hunting advice. An indispensable resource for the young Maritime monster hunter!